Need a Book Group Book - Sci-Fi/Fantasy?!

[DuchessOfAvon]

Jeepers. We have decided this year that we each have to select from a different genre and I have drawn Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I have no idea where to start.

Any tips?

Yowsers - now we really are getting into unknown territory (Robin McKinley aside).

I'll check them all out on Amazon - thanks.

I am a bit worried about the tendency to hugely-long or part-of-a-saga-ness. We only get a month to read this and some of the group will struggle with anything too brick-like.

for slightly different fantasy you could try Feist's magician (it is close to traditional, but I enjoyed it) or slightly bizarre try Jasper Fforde. Agree about Abhorsen trilogy as well. i personally love Erikson's Malazan book of the Fallen series, but that's quite hardcore, even if it is original and well written.
i definitely would not recommend Modesitt YIKES his stuff is bad.

Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavare trilogy is very good, and for fantasy quite short!

Ooh, Ann's suggestion is very good. Magician is definitely traditionalist, without being Tolkein. And it stands alone. Read that. It's quite long, but a good example of "pure" fantasy without being forumlaic. Amd I think there's not a lot of "traditioal" fantasy that does stand alone, it tends to need the full set.

I love Jasper Fforde too - Ann, what else do you like? We seem to have similar tastes? I tend to go back to Eddings for light fantasy when I want the fantasy equivalent of a trashy romance novel... and love all Wyndham (which I would class as sci fi, not fantasy). Patricia Briggs - the Mercey Thomson series - is a relatively new urban fantasy series I've been enjoying and quite like some of Kelley Armstrong (some of them irritate me and the random sex scenes add no value in my opinion). Just finished the Abhorsen series and enjoyed it - the first book was the worst though which was weird.

I really really need a new keyboard... sorry about the typos.

Mark Chadbourn is another where its more of a twist than pure fantasy - his first is great as it is real world, where magic comes back. Lots of good legend references.

I enjoyed the Abhorsen series too - it did take him a while to get into full stride, but I thought the concept was great

If you want urban vampires, can I recommend The Night Watch ? Really interesting ideas, and I don't normally do vampire

OhBling - your reading tastes sound like mine. I loved Sabriel, Abhorsen and Lirael.

I'm a big Robin Hobbs fan and I like Tad Williams, though he's a bit epicy and kitchenboy turned wizardy. I'm not sure I'd recommend either author for a book club as they're both series writers, ie 3 books at a time.

I can't think what to recommend. I just got carried away with the love for Sci-fi/fantasy

Please let us know what you choose in the end. I'm fascinated by how other people react to this genre as I was told for years that it was laddish and childish but I've always loved a bit of magic in my novels.

ohBling I'm in a wasteland for good books at the moment.
I've read Silverthorn and Darkness at Sethanon as well, although I felt like they were sort of 'tacked on' to Magician IYKWIM?
I mentioned Steven Erikson - give it a try, the series starts with Gardens of the Moon, and I love it.
I quite enjoy Eragon (and sequels) for a light fantasy (not the best written books out there, but decently entertaining)
I enjoy the first 4 books of Jordan's wheel of time, but after that I have no patience with it.
Only Tad Williams I've read is Shadowmarch.
I agree that Sabriel isn't the best of the Garth Nix books.
Ah baby crying got to go

OOh actually have had another thought. OP - yoiu could try reading Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora. It's grown up and magical, very unique, the story can stand alone (although there is a sequel) and the world is interesting, beautiful and gritty all at the same time

I would also go for Ursula le Guin, but not Earthsea IMO as I think its much less interesting than her adult books. As well as the ones already mentioned her book of short stories The Birthday of the World has some really interesting stories in it which I would have thought would provoke lots of discussion.

You also get some pretty much straight sci-fi (the last long story in the book is a 'everyone on a spaceship' affair) and some much more fantasy in style (the title story), so you could hit both genres with one book

Ann / Squilly - Love Lies of Locke Lamora and am waiting eagerly for the third one. I do like the rest of the Feist series, but the later ones actually - agree that the ones immediately post Magician aren't great. Have you read the parallel series by Janny Wurts? The Empire books - Servant, Mistress and something else? Set on Tsurani and really enjoyable. You might like those.

Also enjoyed Robin Hobb. Still need to read the final one of the newer series - I didn't enjoy it as much as the others so haven't been obsessive.

Anyone tried Patrick Rothfuss? I quite enjoyed the first one and will be interested in the rest although they're slow coming.

Also Joe Abercrombie? Quite dark but also very different to most fantasy which I enjyoed - characters are less formulaic.

I haven't read the Janny Wurts ones actually. Only Janny wurts I've read was the Cycle of Fire, which I really enjoyed. Oh and I read most of Curse of the Mistwraith, but couldn't really get on with it that well.

Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is fun as well as being an interesting take on politics, revolutions and election-rigging.

William Gibson's "Neuromancer" is a modern classic (it was one of the ground-breakers for the cyberpunk era) if a bit sweary in places.

Neal Stephenson's "Snowcrash" is a bit flawed in places but on the whole it's fun, funny and has some great lines.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle did some good collaborations - Id say "Footfall" is their best.

Greg Bear is also well worth a read as he plays with some very big ideas. "Blood Music" is eerie and "Eon" is breath-takingly bold.

Joe Abercrombie is great stuff! He has a new one out soon.

I am liking the look of the Scott Lynch. AND the Ursula Le Guin - but maybe not short stories as I think we are doing a specific short story collection at some point and I don't want to ursurp their choice.

Many thanks for all of your suggestions - I am building up an interesting reading list for myself.

On the sci-fi front, I remembered Mission of Gravity from when I was younger but its no longer in print.

OhBling

I LOVED Philip Rothfuss. Second part is due out April 2010 (I think). I'm really looking forward to that one.

I enjoyed the Abercrombie books too, but they were very dark. Nothing light and fluffy about that series at all!

I have the Lies of Locke Lamora and I just didn't get past the first chapter. Will try again now, though if you say it's good.

Annvan - the Dragonbone Chair trilogy by Tad was much better in my opinion. It was a little formulaic, but enjoyable, nonetheless.

Happy book club Duchess. Hope you have fun and if you find anything fab, come back and let us know

Squilly, yes, Lies was a little hard to get into. I kept getting confused by all the dark glass references and until I just let those go, I kept trying to over analyse where or what this society was. But stick with it, it becomes wonderful as you go along.

Ann - not sure if you've chosen definitely, but another semi scifi novel that might be interesting for your book club is The Time Travellers Wife. People tend to have strong feelings about it which is great as it generates lots of discussion. And I see there's a movie starting in a few weeks... !?

Can I just suggest "Ender's Game"
Orson Scott Card

Great book, impossible to put down, and I love the sequels "Speaker for the dead" and "Xenocide"

Oh, you see - now I am going off Lies if its a bit of a Corelli-like struggle in the early stages. (Will definitely read it myself though.)

Would The Confessions of Max Tivoli loosely count as semi sci-fi along the lines of TTTW? I loved TTTW but the group was really spilt about it.

Mind you, Enders Game looks fascinating too.

Too much choice now......

Our book club initiated a "no veto" policy - the person responsible for choosing the book, chooses the book. No complaints allowed or accepted!

Piers Anthony has written some good fantasy stuff too - The Crewel Lye and A Spell for Chameleon are a good read

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher is a series but Book 1 is a decent stand-alone (wizrd in modern day Chicago battling trolls, vampires etc that most people don't 'see'). Funny & pacey

Well, we have a no veto policy but it doesn't stop one or two complaining vociferously about everything after the event! We also have a rule that we don't chose things that we have already read, so as to absolve us of personal blame if everyone hates it!

I'll check out those two, Iklboo. Thanks.

I found Lies of Locke Lamora a bit nothingy TBH. Enjoyed it but had no desire to read another.

(am reading gaiman, jane )